Audio slideshow: Anatomy of a revolution

Octavia Nasr, the former senior editor for Middle East affairs at CNN, discusses the four weeks of intense demonstrations in Tunisia that led to the overthrow of that country’s autocratic government. Protesters in the historically stable North African country began calling for the ouster of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in December after a street vendor in the town of Sidi Bouzid set himself on fire. Ben Ali has since fled the country, and a transitional government has promised new freedoms and sweeping governmental reform. Nasr said in an interview with Need to Know this week that Western media had largely neglected the most important aspect of the story: the peaceful overthrow by unarmed citizens of an Arab dictator.

Need to Know is a production of Creative News Group (CNG) in association with WNET. Marc Rosenwasser is Executive Producer. Need to Know is made possible by Bernard and Irene Schwartz, Mutual of America, Citi Foundation, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Foundation, Margaret A. Cargill Foundation, The Corporation for Public Broadcasting and PBS.